


Nicest Kids in Town

by dragonVengeance12



Category: Hairspray (2007)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 12:15:20
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,610
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29207229
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dragonVengeance12/pseuds/dragonVengeance12
Summary: What if the "Nicest Kids in Town" were just that?This is a collection of one-shots of in-between scenes set in the movie, in which the Council kids are good, Amber is not as cruel, and Velma is Velma because I need an antagonist in my story.This is really just a place for me to dump all of my Corny Collins fic ideas.
Comments: 2
Kudos: 2





	1. Auditions

**Author's Note:**

> I do not own Hairspray or any of its characters

He breathed out slowly as he stared at his reflection in the mirror. Fidgety hands messed with the buttons on his jacket as he readjusted his tie for the millionth time in a row. Audition days were always so hectic. Every white girl in the city wanted their chance to perform on Baltimore’s top television program for teens and become one of the nicest kids in town. 

The host ran his hands along the sides of his overly hairsprayed hair before leaving his office, turning off the lights and closing the door behind him. Whistling softly to himself as he made his way down the crowded hallways, he could hear Velma and the kids rehearsing in the studio. By the sounds of it, some people were in the midst of auditioning… and it wasn’t going well. 

As he approached the stage door, he saw a group of young ladies exit the same door, looking down and frowning dejectedly. He sighed and rolled his eyes, mentally preparing himself for the storm that is Velma Von Tussle before plastering on a smile and walking into the studio.

“Velma,” he called out, drawing her and the others’ attention. “We talked about this. You can’t send people away without me seeing them.”

“Oh, don’t be so melodramatic, Corny,” Velma brushed off, giving him an airy laugh. “I was doing you a favour. You wouldn’t have liked those girls anyway. A bunch of skanks if you ask me.” She muttered the last sentence to her daughter who rolled her eyes in response but remained silent. 

“Either way, I decide who dances on my show and who doesn’t,” he reminded her. He reached out to take the clipboard from her hands, but she pulled it back before he could make contact. 

“And I get to veto them whenever I see fit.” She leaned in closer and lowered her voice. “Or did you forget whose name it is that’s on your paychecks?”

He froze for a second, a small smile still on his face, as his eyes swept the room, taking in the watchful expressions of the others. How dare she bring that up in front of the kids? He then smiled and straightened up, smoothing out the front of his suit. Well, if she wanted to play with fire…

“Velma, do me a favour would ya? Turn around,” he directed. She laughed haughtily but decided to play along, rolling her eyes as she did so. “You see who’s name is written on there? The one that every audience member reads every weekday and would be devastated to see taken down?”

If he were in front of the studio producer, he would have seen the smile on her face slowly turn into a frown… and he would have relished in it, but hearing the huff of breath come from the woman before him was enough. Without turning, Velma held the clipboard out in the air for him to take, which he did so with a quick thank you. 

He rifled through the pages filled with girls’ names and their pictures. “Send the next group in, please,” he told one of the stagehands who were there maintaining the line of people who came to audition. Leaning against a table set where the centre camera would have been, he watched as the girls trickled into the room.  _ On with the show. _

—————————————————————–——

“Thanks, dolls. You’re free to go,” he dismissed the last group of girls and sighed in relief as the door closed behind them. Group after group of teenage girls for three hours straight, and they were all the same. Same dresses or mini skirts, same stiff, big hair, same dance moves, and same plastic smiles that were only put on for the cameras. No one stood out, that’s the problem. 

The council kids were packing up their stuff and preparing to leave. They were given the morning off of school for the auditions and had to get back for their afternoon classes.

“The second to last group had some good girls in it,” Velma piped up from her seat on the podium once everyone left and she and Corny were the only ones left in the studio. “Brunette, tall, and nice smiles.”

“And the dancing?” _ The part we’re supposed to be judging them on. _

“Mediocre at best,” she stated, “but with some training, they’ll make it.” After all, they can’t be too good else they upstage her daughter. 

Corny snorted. “Looks aren’t everything, Velma.”

“Well, fine.” She threw her hands up in the air in exasperation. “Who do you pick then?”

He thought hard for a moment, glancing down at his notes and furrowed his eyebrows. He finally sighed and shrugged. “I don’t know.”

Velma jumped off the podium and stomped to the table. “Well, you have to pick someone, Corny. We’re one dancer short, and we need to fill that position soon or the whole show will be ruined.” 

“Velma, relax,” Corny said, placing his hands on her shoulders and urging her to calm down. “You’re overreacting. We don’t need a replacement until the show in two days, plenty of time to choose.” When she still didn’t look completely sated, he pushed on. “Tell you what, the record hop’s tomorrow night. Maybe I’ll find some talent there. We did offer these auditions during school hours, not everyone’s parents’ll let them ditch.”

“Fine,” the producer conceded, “but you better find her or, audience or not, we will be having a discussion about your future here.” With that said, she brushed past him angrily and stormed out the door. 

Corny watched her leave, shaking his head. Nothing you did would please that woman short from giving her full reign of the studio, and that was a frightening thought. He chanced one last glance around the empty studio before heading back to his office, knocking on the top of table as he passed for good measure.


	2. The Hop

Corny stood on the stage in the school gymnasium, nodding and clapping along to the beat. Link and some of the Council boys were on stage singing while the rest of the Council was spread out on the dance floor with the rest of the crowd. Overall, it was a good turnout; they had great music and everyone was having a blast. 

It came to the instrumental part of the song they were on, and as the throng of dancers dispersed to regroup, a flash of movement from the right section caught his attention. He turned to see a girl walk on the dance floor, hands on her hips and a strut in her step. She had a huge smile on her face as she clapped along to the music, dancing and shaking her hips and bosom as if her skirt was on fire. Corny found himself getting addicted to her infectious smile and the fun and bouncy atmosphere she projected through her dance. This was it. This was what he was looking for. This was a girl who loved to dance.

And he wasn’t the only one to realise that. A group of boys stepped up to the dance floor behind her and tried to follow along with her movements. She was one hell of a dancer, and everyone deserved to know that. He grinned and gave her a thumbs up in encouragement as the song progressed.

Link looked to the side to judge Corny’s expression and beamed as he saw his gaze locked on the dance floor and a grin adorning his face. _Mission accomplished_ , he silently congratulated himself. The moment he looked through the window into the detention room, he instantly recognised her from the morning’s rehearsal. He thought she was pretty cool and a good dancer to boot at first glance, and he could tell the other Council members thought so too, but next to nothing could get past Velma’s approval on The Corny Collins Show. So, his only hope was Corny Collins himself. Of course, he couldn’t come out and tell the host directly that he wanted the girl, whom he had yet to learn the name of, on the show for fear of coming off as playing favourites or the chance that Velma would catch wind of his praise and decide to do something about it, something that most definitely he would not enjoy, so he was glad that at least this worked out. 

“Alright, folks. That was “Ladies’ Choice,” sung to you by our own Link Larkin. If you liked that, you can catch more of it on The Corny Collins Show, every weekdays at four. Now, we’re gonna take a little break from the action, so hang in there and we’ll be back with some more of that Baltimore sound.” He stepped away from the podium and turned to the others on the stage. “If you’ll excuse me, boys. Play something groovy to pass the time,” he directed to the band before heading off down the stage, missing the discrete fist bump between Link and Brad. 

He looked around but couldn’t find the girl who caught the attention of everyone in the room. He was starting to feel a little frantic as he pushed through the crowd of kids. He finally caught sight of her updo hair just as she and her friend were leaving and rushed to catch up.

“Hey! Hey, white shirt, yellow skirt,” Corny called out, and Penny and Tracy turned around. “That was some fine dancing back there.”

“Thank you.” Tracy smiled shyly.

“What’s your name, doll?”

“Tracy Turnblad.”

“Well, Tracy, how would you like to dance on The Corny Collins Show every afternoon after school?” He watched as her eyes widened and her jaw dropped to the floor. Behind her, her friend did the same.

“Would I?! I would love that. It’s been my dream to dance on your show since forever!”

“Well, tell you what. Come down to the studio tomorrow at 3:30 and we’ll see if you fit in with the others.”

“Of course! Thank you, thank you, thank you!”

“No problem, just do me a solid, don’t come into the front entrance. Meet me at side door, okay?” He put his hands on her shoulders and waited for her to nod in approval, smiling at her excitement. “Awesome. Now, go home and get some sleep. I want my new Council girl well rested and pepped for the first of many shows.” 

“Of course, I mean, I will.” Tracy grabbed her friend’s hand and pulled her down the corridor, calling back, “thank you so much Mr. Collins.”

Corny smiled to himself and nodded. This was a good day. The weather was nice, there were no overly extra problems at the studio, he managed to avoid Velma Von Tussle throughout the day, and he just filled his dance roster. If only it could stay like that forever. He turned to go back to the gym when he was met with the face of one of his dancers barely an inch away from his. 

“Brenda!” He laid a hand on his chest and breathed deeply. “Have some consideration for an old man’s heart.” He looked past her to see some of his other kids standing by the door. Because that’s what they were, his kids. When you spend three to four hours each day, nine on weekends, with the same group of people, you get attached.

“You’re replacing me with _her_?” Brenda shrieked, not paying any mind to the volume of her voice nor the attention she was drawing from other kids. “Why? How could you even think that?”

Corny frowned and jerked his head to the side, gesturing for her to follow him as he walked to an empty classroom and away from wandering eyes and listening ears. He couldn’t take the chance that someone would overhear and catch the wrong end of their conversation and gossip about it to their friends. It could give him and his show a bad reputation, he could already picture the expressions on Velma and Mr. Spritzer’s face and the admonishment he would get in turn. 

He opened the door and stepped aside for her to enter, still spouting reasons why he couldn’t do this to her as the others followed her, either to offer support or opposition, he didn’t know, but he wanted to talk to them anyway so let them in. Once the door was closed and the window covered, he turned to face the ex-dancer who had now turned to angry tears. 

“Brenda,” he said, trying to explain the situation as calmly as he could, “you know why we need to hire a new dancer. I have to fill a spot on this show that was vacated by your stupidity and irresponsibility,” he scolded her. “I know for a fact that Velma takes you ladies aside to talk about this just as I do for the men every few months. I know she’s hard to work with, but what she says is true, and now you’re paying the price.” 

“But, but I can still stay on!” she protested. “I can still dance and sing. I could wear clothes that hide-”

Corny held up a hand to stop her. “Even if I was willing to do that, which I’m not, for how long would we be able to keep up appearances? We’d lose our sponsorship and the show could be taken off the air, and if that happens, do you realise what it would do to everyone on this show? Do you realise the position that it would put me in? I am not going to risk everything I worked hard for because of your reckless decisions.” He stared down at her and sighed. “I’m sorry, but I can’t in good conscious allow you to stay on. Like I said before, go home, get some rest. This baby doesn’t need a dancer, this baby needs a mother, and I can tell you’re gonna be a great one.”

Brenda sniffed and nodded, knowing a lost battle when she saw one. She staggered towards the door, keeping her head down and her hair covering her eyes. 

"And Brenda." She stopped and turned back as Corny called out to her, a very faint glimmer of hope in her eyes that he would say that this was all a misunderstanding and she could keep her job for even a little while longer. "Let me remind you that, until 4:00 tomorrow, you are still considered a representative of The Corny Collins Show and, by extension, me. Please do not do anything to jeopardize that."

"I would never do that to you, Corny. You guys were my family, still are," she said sincerely, giving them all a small before leaving the classroom,

As the door shut behind her, Corny returned his gaze to the others in the room. “Does anyone else have a problem with Tracy?” 

“I don’t have a problem with it,” Sketch spoke up. “She’s a great dancer, and if she’s that good, she should be able to be on the show.” A chorus of “yeah”s and nods greeted his answer and Corny smiled.

“Good. The only thing I ask is that you don’t tell any of the others about this until tomorrow’s show. I’ll have everything handled by then.” After a brief nod from everyone, he walked to the door to get back to the gym. Their break had extended far longer than he anticipated and the kids were probably wondering what was going on. “And for Pete’s sake, no one tell Mrs. Von Tussle.”

His last request was met with chuckles which were overcome with the chatter in the school hallways.


End file.
